Top Tech Execs To Help Saudi Arabia Build Its Mega City Of The Future

(CNN) — Saudi Arabia is attracting big names from around the world to advise on one of its most ambitious projects — building a futuristic mega city — even as questions mount about its role in the disappearance of a prominent journalist.

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, SoftBank (SFTBF) CEO Masayoshi Son, venture capitalist and Facebook (FB) board member Marc Andreessen and Y Combinator President Sam Altman, are among the tech heavyweights who have agreed to serve on the project’s advisory board, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Andreessen declined to comment. The others did not respond to CNN requests for comment

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the NEOM city a year ago, sitting alongside SoftBank’s Son at an investment conference in Riyadh. Son described the $500 billion plan to build an automated city of self-driving cars and passenger drones from scratch as a “fantastic opportunity.”

In this handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on September 30, 2018 Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman gestures during his meeting with the Emir of Kuwait at the Bayan Palace in Kuwait City. (BANDAR AL-JALOUD/AFP/Getty Images)

It’s one of the centerpieces of bin Salman’s Vision 2030, a blueprint for reshaping the kingdom’s economy by increasing foreign investment, boosting tourism and selling a stake in its giant state oil company, Aramco.

Now, US intelligence is trying to determine whether the highest levels of the Saudi government were involved in the disappearance of Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi was last seen more than a week ago entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Top Turkish security officials have concluded that the “highest levels of the royal court” in Saudi Arabia ordered his assassination, according to a senior official cited by The New York Times.

Saudi Arabia has strenuously denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance.

“At this stage, our priority is to support the investigation, as opposed to responding to evolving comments not directly related to those efforts,” a senior Saudi official told CNN on Wednesday.

The composition of the NEOM advisory board underscores the deep ties that already exist between the global tech industry and the kingdom.

“Each of the Advisory Board members has been carefully chosen,” the Saudi Press Agency said in a statement on Tuesday listing the members. Additional members may be appointed, it added.

Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert, former U.S. energy secretary Ernest Moniz and former European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes have also agreed to serve on the advisory board, according to the SPA.